


A Flicker of Doubt

by PinguinoSentado



Series: Papergirl [3]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Mild Language, Spoilers for Human Error, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-12 09:41:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5661697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinguinoSentado/pseuds/PinguinoSentado
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Piper's idyllic life with Nora is shattered when Publick Occurrences attracts the attention of the Institute.</p><p>Some spoilers for the Human Error quest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Safe

Piper stared morosely at the hot plate. No matter how much she enjoyed having Nora around, no matter how badly she wished she could just stay in bed with her all day, the journalist inside her was just not cut out for domestic life. She should have been happy. Ever since she had persuaded Nora to move upstairs her life had been surreal. Now, whenever she woke up in the woman’s arms, she started grinning like an idiot. Nora tended not to sleep very long after Piper started paying attention to her.

To say Piper was crazy about her did not even scratch the surface. Truth be told, the more she thought about it, the more she worried she would scare the poor woman off.

But Piper was not happy, and it was all Nora’s fault. Before, she had just been worried about Nat, about keeping her safe and staying alive long enough to raise her right. Now she had a second person in her life to worry over and it was proving enough to cripple her. It should have been different. Nora would look after Nat if anything happened to her, Piper was certain of that. It should have been comforting.

And she was not the only one having doubts. Piper had spent all her life getting inside other people’s heads and Nora, at least where Piper was concerned, wore her heart on her sleeve. It was actually endearing, seeing her wheels turning as she fumbled with her words. She was cute when she was flustered. Even when she could not find the words to say it, whatever she was feeling was plain on her face.

Lately, all Piper had seen on that pretty face was worry. Not the kind of worry she had when they were being shot at or standing in a nest of Ghouls, but a quiet, rising fear that haunted the corners of her usually shining eyes.

Nora had, at long last, figured out exactly what Piper did for a living. She pissed people off.

And the worst part was she was right to be worried about her. Piper, during her brief moments of sanity, found herself nearly paralyzed with fear of who she would go up against next. She was all but certain the Mayor was under Institute control. The only thing keeping him from bumping off poor little Piper was the public unrest she continually whipped up over the issue.

And then there was Nat. What would she do if something happened to her? Piper broke off her staring contest with the hot plate and watched her little sister create works of art with chalk in the corner. Where Nora had found colored chalk was beyond her but Nat had been ecstatic. She had been somewhat less ecstatic when Piper had abruptly urged her to go play outside so she could thank Nora properly for such a kind gesture.

Her gaze wandered to her printing press and grew even more depressed. For more than a week it had stood idle. No new stories papered the streets, no new doors needed to be kicked down in the name of public safety. Every time she had sat down to tackle a new injustice, everything seemed to just slip between her fingers. She would start having thoughts about fact-checking and due diligence, which were completely rational, but when the time came to actual follow through with them, she would just freeze.

Piper leaned against the counter and sighed. Saving the world held little appeal for her anymore. She was happy now. Boundlessly, stupidly happy. She had someone. She did not want to be reckless. She wanted to enjoy this, however long it lasted.

The door to creaked open. Piper leapt off the counter when she saw Nora’s familiar figure come in. “You have no idea how – what’s wrong?”

Nora marched to Piper’s side and whispered in her ear. “You need to get out of here. Grab your things and get Nat.”

Piper sputtered. “What are you talking about?”

Nora’s look turned desperate. “Please, Piper. Trust me. The Institute grabbed me while I was outside the walls. I’ll explain everything later but I think they’re coming here. We need to get somewhere safe.”

“Okay,” Piper tried to sound calm as she made sure Nat was still out of earshot. In truth, she was nearly panicking. This was her home, her safe place in the world. Where did Nora expect her to go? “Did you have somewhere in mind?”

Nora was quiet a moment. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “If there’s somewhere Nat can go –“

Piper was nodding along. “She has a friend. Nina.”

“Okay. Good. Once she’s safe, we can work out what to do next.”

Nora started to move toward the door again but Piper stepped in front of her. “Nora –“

“Please,” Nora’s voice was a panicked whisper. “Please trust me. I’ll explain everything once you and Nat are safe, I promise.”

Piper nodded slowly. “Alright.” She did trust Nora, with her life and her sister’s.

Nat had come out from her nook by now, scuttling up to Nora with a huge smile on her face. She had not heard anything. Good. “Did you bring anything from outside?”

Nora smiled kindly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t. You’d be surprised how hard it is to find chalk out there. I’ll look harder next time, I promise.”

Piper knelt down in front of her. “Nat, I want you to go grab your bag. You’re going to stay with Nina for a bit.”

This was not welcome news. “Why? What’s going on?”

Piper had never believed in sheltering Nat. She knew almost everything Piper did, from corrupt city officials to back alley murders. But this was different. “I can’t tell you. We think someone’s coming here and it will be safer if we leave.”

“Is it the Mayor? Or the Institute?”

Piper lied. “We don’t know, but we’re going to find out. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

Nat shook her head. “You worry too much. You always said the Institute couldn’t get to us.”

“I know, and we’re going to make sure they can’t. Come on, get your bag. We’ll all be back here by dinner, I promise.”

Her sister finally hurried off, still grumbling about how silly they were being. Nora fidgeted in the corner, checking and rechecking her rifle. Piper had never seen her this shaken up. She kept twitching, shaking her head like she still trying to wake up. It scared the hell out of her.

The moment Nat emerged with her bag, Nora bolted for the door. She practically dragged Piper into the street and ushered Nat to follow. Once they were out, Nora settled into a normal walking pace. Piper had never realized how agonizingly slow it was until now. A dozen synth killers could be stalking the shadows, wearing human faces and just waiting to pounce.

She tried not to clench her fists. Nora owed her an explanation for all this.

They had just rounded the bend to the schoolhouse when the sound of shouting came from the gate. Piper turned around to see guards turning toward the stairs. People were looking, too, but no one was shooting. Not yet.

Nora pushed them on, refusing to look over her shoulder. “Just a bit further,” she kept saying.

Piper looked back anyway. Whatever was happening, it was coming closer. Nora turned to her. “Piper, come on,” she said, still hurrying Nat along in front of her. She turned to follow.

She did not even get to take a step.

“PIPER!”

Piper whirled. Nora – another Nora – was standing in the market.

Piper was too stunned to speak. She heard Nat scream. A synth. One of them was a synth. She should be doing something. No matter how hard she tried she could not get her body to move, her eyes to leave the other Nora. Or was she the real one? This was a woman she had spent more time alone with than anyone else. She should know her by sight.

The other Nora had her pistol drawn and aimed at the one beside Piper. “Get away from her! Nat! Run!”

One of them was the real Nora. Piper felt her stomach clench. What if she had been replaced weeks ago? Months, even? Piper nearly sickened at the thought of being so intimate with a synth, of not knowing that the woman she loved had been taken.

The sound of Nat scrambling away woke up Piper’s limbs. She fumbled for her sidearm but had no idea where to aim it. The other Nora saw her draw but only watched, never moving her gun toward her. Did that mean she was human? Would a synth have shot her? Would a synth have told her sister to run? What about Nora’s twitching, the way she was shaking her head? That could mean she was a synth. Right?

Something moved beside her. Piper heard Nora swear and start to bring her rifle around. Guards began to pour into the market, guns drawn. Still unable to tear herself from the woman in the market, Piper watched as the woman’s familiar eyes settled on her. For one brief, horrible moment, Piper tried furiously to see what was inside them, if it was really the woman she loved.

Then they left her.

She saw the muzzle flash, heard the bark of the handgun and felt her insides jump at the report.

Piper screamed. Nat screamed. Guards yelled.

Nora fell to the ground, a bullet in her heart.


	2. The Real Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper desperately tries to separate synth from human after she watches Nora die

Nora put her hands over her head, one splayed out in surrender, the other awkwardly clutching her sidearm. She could not decide whether or not to drop it. What if it went off? What if Security saw her holding it and just assumed she was going to start firing wildly into the crowd? Were these really going to be her last thoughts? She closed her eyes and tried to find a suitable one to go out on. For some reason, it seemed important.

She heard someone behind her shouting something. “Drop it!” Over and over. She jumped when it hit the ground with a soft thud. That was odd. When was the last time it rained? A few days ago? She shook her head. The weather was not a thought to go out on.

Someone shouted at her to get on the ground. She squeezed her eyes closed and knelt in the mud. Piper. Think of Piper. Of all the thoughts, that would be the one that Nora would die for. She heard swearing behind her. Boots squelched in the mud. Someone racked the slide on their rifle.

“Wait!”

Piper’s voice cut the air like a knife. Everyone stopped moving. Nora dared enough to open her eyes, dared to hope the shot that killed her would never come. Her breath came in ragged gasps as her gaze crawled up the street to Piper’s stained boots before finally finding the courage to climb to the woman’s trench coat and cap.

Between the two was Piper’s gun, its end pointed straight at Nora’s head. Even from here Nora could see the barrel shaking. Piper was trying to look calm but Nora could see the desperation in her eyes. Nat was still crying somewhere in the crowd.

The mud groped coldly at her legs and held Nora in place even as her whole body threatened to give up and collapse on the spot. She could not stop shaking. This was not how it was supposed to end. Not with Piper holding the gun.

“Tell me it’s you,” Piper begged, her voice ragged on the edge of tears. “Tell me I didn’t just watch you die.”

Nora tried to look Piper in the eyes but she could not stop shivering. Her eyes darted around the street, digging in vain for the something to say. She could barely bring herself to watch Piper’s boots walking toward her.

“Tell me you just saved me, like you always do. You saved my sister, didn’t you? You wouldn’t let a synth kill you. You wouldn’t do that to me.”

Piper was standing over her now. Nora brought her eyes up to meet hers. “Please,” she managed, her voice so timid she did not recognize it. “Piper. It’s me.”

The gun lowered for the barest of seconds but it did not stay down. “Prove it. Tell me something only you would know,” Piper whispered.

Nora looked back at the mud, trying desperately to piece something together. Anything. Piper. She knew Piper. She knew her better than anyone else. So why could she barely remember her last name?

“You, uh,” Nora swore and tried to think straight. What did only she know? “You never go anywhere without a good pen. Even when we’re outside the walls, you’re always making sure you have at least one.”

Again the gun shifted. Piper shuffled in the street. Her voice was breaking. “Anyone could know that.”

“You always check on Nat before you go to sleep,” Nora stammered. “You’ll lie awake for hours until you know she’s asleep. Every night, you wait to hear her snoring before you let yourself drift off.”

Piper’s face began to soften. Nora kept talking. “You once told me that a pack of gumdrops saved your life but you refused to tell me how. I asked you so many times you threatened to print the story about us in the hardware store.” Piper coughed out a small laugh. Nora tried to smile back, her voice steadying. “Our first night together, I told you I lost my husband. I told you that I never thought I’d be this close to anyone again. That you meant the world to me. Even if you won’t let me sleep through the morning.”

“It is you,” Piper threw herself at Nora, clutching her so tightly Nora winced as her ribs groaned. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

She whispered it over and over as she wept into Nora’s shoulder. Nora slowly put her arms around her, unable to keep herself from hugging back even with a dozen guns still trained on her. “It’s alright,” Nora whispered, again and again, every time Piper apologized. For what must have been hours it became their little song.

Piper finally pulled herself away, her eyes still wet and her arms still holding Nora. “What happened out there?”

Nora watched as Diamond City security carried her dead body off on a litter. “They tried to ambush me a few hours outside the city. I got away and came straight back here. I had no idea they made a second me.”

Piper glared over her shoulder as the corpse passed. “What the hell are you doing?”

One of the guards looked at her, his voice almost apologetic. “I’m sorry, Miss Piper, we can’t just take your word on this. There are rules.”

Piper’s glare turned feral and her grip on Nora tightened. “You are not taking her in for questioning.”

Nora slipped one hand under Piper’s arm to try and ease her away. “It’s alright. You’re safe. Nat’s safe. I can handle a few days in lockup until they prove that thing wasn’t me.”

That wild glare turned on Nora. “I’m not losing you again,” she whispered.

“You won’t,” Nora promised, her hand gently brushing Piper’s hair over her ear. She tried to smile. “It’s just the lockup. The Piper Suite? You’ll probably be in there with me in no time.”

Piper actually laughed, the sound grinding from her throat. “Dammit, Nora.”

“It’ll be alright, Piper.”

Security had finally shaken themselves awake and were now moving toward Nora. None of them had the courage to mess with Piper and were all standing around awkwardly, waiting for someone else to get their hand bitten off.

“I know where it is,” Piper growled. “I can walk her.”

No one objected. Apparently it took more than two dozen, well-armed men to outgun Piper Wright. Piper helped her to her feet, reluctantly allowing Nora to breathe again.

“Don’t worry,” Piper said as they started down the road. “While you’re sitting on your hands, I’ll make sure they cut that thing open as soon as they can. I’ll prove you’re you. I promise.”


	3. The Girl with the Gifted Tongue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper pays a visit to Nora in Diamond City's jail

Diamond City had a lovely little jail. Nora especially liked the stained and rotted mattress stuffed into the corner, as though any amount of darkness could hide the stench. She had spent the first few minutes planning out her escape before realizing that no one really wanted her here anyway. She could probably have just walked out the door, if she was feeling brave enough to try.

For the moment, she was not, but every second of pure boredom threatened to tip her over the edge. One equally-bored guard had tried to chat her up during the first interminable hour. He got very little for his trouble. Nora was not in a talking mood. After that, it was just them and Diamond City Radio.

Every now and again the outer door would clang open and shut, some new guard coming in to rest his feet and talk to his buddies. A few more tried to talk to her. One asked if she really was human. Her glare convinced him to drop it.

She had nearly fallen asleep when the door banged open and Piper came marching into the room. Nora was at the bars in a flash. She did not even complain when Security, having apparently lost their fear of Piper’s bite, took their time in frisking her.

“That was quick,” Nora said as Piper walked over. “Proved me innocent already?”

Piper’s face soured. “No, though not for lack of trying. They wouldn’t let me into the doctor’s office for the autopsy. They said they needed to be sure no one contaminated the evidence.”

Piper slumped against the bars, her face right up against Nora’s. Even the reporter’s halfhearted smile made the room a little brighter. “How are you holding up?”

Nora looked around at the unadorned concrete. “How do you think? I’m bored out of my mind. And it’s driving me crazy, just sitting here. There could be more of them out there. What would happen if they came after you now, while I’m trapped in here?”

Piper rested one hand on her arm. “It’s fine, Nora. You already saved me once today. Let me have a little fun on my own.”

Nora sagged. “I’m serious.”

“I know, and so am I,” Piper rubbed at Nora’s shoulder. “Let me handle this. You just try to relax. You’ve been through a lot.”

“Relax,” Nora muttered. “I’ll relax when I’m out of here, with you.”

Piper smiled. “I took care of myself for a long time before you came along. And I don’t think they’ll be sending another you after me.”

She knew when she was beaten. Nora stretched against the bars until she was nearly flat, her legs far out behind her like she was trying to push her way out. She needed to get out of here.

When she finally brought herself back to face Piper, the woman’s face had gone distant. “What about you?” Nora asked. “How are you doing?”

“I just watched you die, Nor,” Piper said quietly. “I’m not doing great.”

Nora sighed. “Yeah. I’m sorry you had to see that.”

Piper nudged her with her forehead. “At least you’re still here. If I keep saying it over and over, maybe it will sink in.”

Nora said nothing. There was not much she could say.

“Don’t worry,” Piper leaned forward, her hand sliding from Nora’s shoulder to cup the back of her neck. “I’ll get you out in no time.”

Nora let herself be pulled toward the bars and into the waiting embrace of Piper’s lips. Even with the cold iron pressing them apart, it felt good. Right. She even laughed as Piper’s tongue slipped into her mouth.

Her eyes snapped open as metal touched her tongue. For a moment she was dumbfounded, almost pulling away from Piper in shock. _A bobby pin?_

Nora closed her eyes again but failed to focus enough to kiss her back. With the graceful slowness of someone who had done this before on a thousand other lucky girls, Piper slid the pin from her mouth to Nora’s. It took moments. Seconds. The guards could do little more than make eyes at them and admire the free show.

Piper pulled away looking smug. Nora shook her head, completely at a loss for words.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” she blurted.

Piper gave her a look that whispered ‘just wait until I get you alone.’

Still at a loss for words, Nora could only watch as the woman in the press cap sashayed out of the Security office, taking the gazes and imaginations of everyone with her. Locked behind bars, accused of being a synth, and one wrong move from being executed, and Nora was still the luckiest girl in the world.

Nora sat back against the far wall of the cell and waited. The bobby pin settled beneath her tongue and poked gently at her gum. As much as she had enjoyed receiving it, all it did was remind her that this could still go very wrong. If the Mayor, a man Piper insisted was an Institute lackey, determined she needed to die, there was the very real possibility that an autopsy would never happen. Even worse, the doctor here could very well fail to find evidence that the dead Nora was a synth. If he determined that the body was human and that an Institute spy now languished in Diamond City jail, death would be the least of her worries.

So back she went to planning her escape. There would be few theatrics. Pick the lock, steal a gun, maybe hop out a window if the mood struck her. The finer points should have bothered her more than they did but all she could think about was Piper. What would she do if Nora was found guilty of being a synth? Would she leave the city? Would she take Nat?

Nora was so absorbed in this part of her plan that she failed to notice the guards slowly filtering out of the building. Only when three of them, all dressed in Diamond City gear, approached her cell did she look up.

Just as they put her guard in a chokehold. Nora watched blandly as the man toppled to the floor and wondered how much harder it would have been for Piper to pass a 10mm by mouth. Maybe piece by piece? That would have been fun.

The one in charge, or at least the biggest one, rapped on the cell. “Nowhere to run, synth.”

Nora sighed. “You must have missed the show earlier. That’s okay, I’ll give you the summary. I’m not a synth.”

“You may have fooled the people here, but you don’t fool us,” he motioned to one of his cronies and then to Nora. “Stand up and walk toward the bars. Cooperate and we won’t have to hurt you.”

“I don’t remember you telling him that,” she nodded toward the unconscious officer.

The big one shrugged. “I’m in a bit of a rush. Can’t be giving the same speech twice. I’m sure you understand. I won’t ask again. Stand up.”

Nora stood and walked toward the bars. She had no gun. They had three. At the moment, this was their game. “Alright. We’ll do this your way.”

“Smart girl. Arm through the bars, please.”

Nora complied. Once they dumped her wherever it was they were going, she could pick the lock and make a break for it then. All she had to do until then was keep them from killing her.

One of the henchmen grabbed her outstretched limb and stuck her with a painfully large needle. She looked the big one right in the eye. “Ow.”

“You’ll live, which is more than you deserve.”

The world started to spin. Whatever he said next went right over her head as she fell limply to the floor.


	4. Safe Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora is taken to the Compound. Spoilers for Human Error.

The world swam back into focus as Nora rolled around on the floor. Or, more appropriately, as she tried to roll around. The first thing she felt was the pinching cold of handcuffs on her wrists. Shortly after that came the slow, lazy cold of concrete on her side, which finally gave way to the bitter cold of the air and the agonizing sensation of hot coals behind her eyes.

Her mouth felt like it had been stuffed with gauze. Her tongue was numb and her shoulder hurt like someone run her full-tilt into a doorframe. She sat up, blinking owlishly as she tried to get her bearings. Dim rays of light leaked through the bars of yet another cell, and this one made Diamond City’s look nice in comparison. This was the kind of cell you left feet first and in a bag.

With a groan she could hardly suppress, Nora rolled herself into a seated position. Her hands had been secured behind her back and around a piece of metal jutting from the wall. Her legs were unbound but fairly useless so long as she was trapped in a sitting position.

Only then did she realize they had searched her, taking her PipBoy and almost everything else. The thought made her shiver. At least they had left her pants and undershirt.

Outside the cell was an equally-uninviting room with bright lights and a few angry guards. Both had noticed her stirring. One stood up from the long table dominating the room and walked closer. Nora revised her assessment as he did. This was an interrogation room.

“Wakey wakey,” the man on the far side of the bars sang. He would be the one questioning her, Nora decided. He had that kind of voice.

Nora let her head loll to the side in a show of grogginess. “Come back in five.”

“So you are awake. Good,” the man said. “I was worried they had damaged you.”

“Nothing a little coffee wouldn’t fix.”

The man chuckled. “A very human answer. Let’s not waste each other’s time. You are a synth.”

Nora grimaced. “I’m getting really tired of people saying that.”

“Then perhaps your Institute should have left us alone,” the man ran his knuckles along the bars. “Your people started this war. Now we’re going to finish it.”

Nora sat up a little straighter. “So you’ve already decided I’m a synth. Fine. Do you plan on proving it or should I go ahead and prepare my gallows speech?”

“We don’t need to prove it,” he smirked. “But there are some tests we want to conduct first.”

“Fine,” she rolled her eyes. “What are they?”

“As you may know, the only sure way to identify one of your kind is by autopsy.”

Nora waited patiently for him to continue. When he did not, she slumped. “It’s not nice to get a girl’s hopes up like that.”

He liked that. “But there is another method. We have devised a test that separates man from machine. We call it the Safe Test.”

“I like that better.”

“You don’t have a choice,” her captor said. “But, for this to work, we need you to be at a certain… baseline. Your responses need to be immediate. Thoughtless.”

Sensing his cue, the man behind him grabbed a small stick and walked over to the bars. A blue arc of electricity snapped and crackled between the prongs. Nora sat back further against the cage without meaning to. This was bad.

_Click._ The first man opened the door to her cell and let the second man walk through. He leveled the prod at her and made it snap again.

Nora tried to sound flippant. “Does this Safe Test have a safe word?”

“As much as I’ve enjoyed your company, synth,” the first man said. “We really should get on with the test, and that means you will only speak when spoken to. Starting now.”

The second man brought the prod down.

Nora kicked hard, sending it wide and throwing the big man off balance. With a surge of desperate speed, she bolted to her feet, handcuffs undone, a bobby pin still stuck in the lock.

Her would-be interrogator jumped backward. Nora brought her knee up between the prod-wielder’s legs and sent him to the floor with a hard swing to the temple. The prod dropped neatly into her waiting hand and, with a satisfying snap, put the first of her assailants out of the fight.

By now the other one had reached the table. Nora was not sure if he was going for an alarm or a weapon but it did not matter. She was faster. She caught him just as he reached a second gate leading out of the interrogation room. The prod snapped again, dropping him to the ground with a wail.

“See?” she said, twirling the prod. “Safe words.”

_Snap._

She tossed the prod aside. “Give it some thought.”

The man’s pockets produced a key, one she hoped went to the door out of here, and his friend provided a few magazines of ammunition that went with an automatic rifle sitting forgotten on the tabletop. Nora slapped a clip home and opened the door.

And ran straight into a startled guard armed with a similar weapon. Nora reacted more quickly, putting the barrel in his face before he could turn. “Don’t.”

The man glared. Nora ignored it. “Where am I? Who’s in charge here?”

“You’re in the Compound, synth, and you’re never getting out.”

Nora smiled. “I think I’ve done pretty well so far. Tell me who’s in charge here.”

He glowered, his eyes flicking down the right corridor as he twitched for his sidearm. Nora hefted the rifle. “Don’t!”

The man went for his gun. Nora cursed and pulled the trigger. As the man slumped to the floor, an alarm began to wail in the distance. Footfalls began pounding down the corridor. Nora, still coming to grips with the fact that this facility was plainly underground, now bolted down a passage at random.

More armed guards appeared ahead of her. They all wore a strange combination of armor so that they looked like utility workers at a riot. None of them proved particularly adept. Nora, lost and confused and chasing echoes as often as not, ripped through them.

Nora had gone right, just as the first guard had suggested, and his directions proved enough. Men shouted about protecting some doctor and keeping the lab safe as they set up blocking positions between her and the center of the facility. All Nora wanted to do was get back to Diamond City, but if these people had infiltrated it once, they could do it again. And the next time it might not be her they took.

Eventually she fought her way to the lab, bursting through the door to cut down two more guards trying to usher a woman in a lab coat behind a counter. Nora slammed the door behind her and marched in.

“Nice place,” she spat. “Where am I?”

The woman stood up. “Do you have any idea –“

Nora fired once over her shoulder. “No, and that’s why I’m here, asking you questions, with a gun to your head.”

“Very well. My name is –“

Another shot. “I can do this all day. Where?”

The woman flinched. “The Compound.”

“See? It’s not so hard. Where is the Compound?”

“West of Covenant. On the lake.”

Nora smiled. “Even better. I’m sorry, I’ve just had a really long day. I shot myself this morning, you know.”

“We heard,” the woman said. “That’s why we grabbed you. We believed you to be the synth, not the woman you killed.”

“And why is that?”

“We were tipped off by someone inside Diamond City. Apparently they were mistaken.”

“Apparently,” Nora muttered. “So you swooped down and grabbed a stranger off the street on a rumor that they were a synth with the intention of torturing them into a brainless stupor just to see how they answer these questions of yours?”

The doctor said nothing for a moment. “I realize how it sounds.”

“Then you should be amazed I haven’t shot you yet.”

“Yes, your restraint is curious. What is it you want?”

Nora looked around. “Who tipped you off?”

The doctor hesitated. Nora considered putting another round over her shoulder but waited for the doctor to make the first move. “We didn’t have her name. She passed information to my agents and they brought you here.”

Nora frowned. “You’ll have to do better than that.”

“That’s all I have,” the doctor said matter-of-factly. “All I heard was that someone in the Railroad wanted to trade us a synth for information gathered by our Safe Test.”

Nora’s eyes narrowed. “Railroad?”

“I admit, I was skeptical as well. Trading synths for information isn’t how they usually operate. But, with you being Institute, I suppose a few of them are willing to make an exception.”

That was hard to believe. Nora had no love for the Railroad but this made no sense. They wanted the world to see them as being the synth’s only friend. And this Safe Test did not seem particularly impressive, much less interesting enough to trade a life for.

The Institute, however, would be very interested in the results of this experiment. The doctor adjusted her glasses. “So, am I –“

Nora pulled the trigger one last time. “No.”

Nora did not believe in executing people, but this was different. These people took strangers off the street, tortured them. This was just another Raider camp full of murderers and sadists.

The alarm still screeched in the distance, echoing hollowly down each corridor and calling the dead to arms. “Railroad,” Nora muttered. “How did this happen?”

It was bad enough that the Institute was playing around with Piper. That was more than enough to make Diamond City crowded. But the Railroad? How long before the Brotherhood took notice? If the good doctor was telling the truth, they had gone from surviving the Wasteland to being at war with everyone in it almost overnight.

Nora sighed. Such was life with Piper Wright. At least she kept things interesting.


	5. Ten Minutes Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora returns to Diamond City. Piper makes her feel at home.

Nora returned to Diamond City an exhausted woman. The guards gave her a wide berth, something that both pleased her and put her on edge. That meant something bad had happened. If one more person accused her of being a Synth, she really had no idea what she would do. All she wanted was to go home, lie down, and watch Piper drift off to sleep.

She found Piper standing in front of Publick Occurrences, arms folded, mouth creased in a deep frown. Even with her shoulders slumped under the weight of the world, all Nora could think about was how happy she was to see her.

She ran down the last few steps. “Piper!”

Piper turned, her eyes lighting up and going dead in the same instant. She reached for her pistol. Nora stopped, putting her hands out and wishing dearly for something to strangle. The look on Piper’s face was the very image of heartbreak.

“You talk in your sleep,” Nora said.

Piper relaxed, forcing a bone-weary smile over her face. “I do not.”

Nora smiled back. “You don’t just talk, you interview. You’re a very intimidating person in your sleep.”

Without another word, Nora wrapped Piper in a hug, kissing her with enough passion for the last three days put together. When Piper finally pried her away, she looked like her old self. With a mischievous grin, she felt around in her mouth.

“Where’s my pin?”

Nora laughed. “Sorry, I seem to have lost it. I’ll have to tell you the story sometime.”

“Killed another Deathclaw?”

“Broke out of a secret, underground cultist prison with it,” Nora admitted. “Nothing so exciting.”

Concern flickered over Piper’s jubilant expression. “I was so worried. When they couldn’t find you, I thought for sure the Institute had come back. And when the body disappeared…”

Nora started. “What about the body?”

“The other you,” Piper said with obvious disgust. “They wouldn’t let anyone see the body. So I started poking around. Turns out someone paid off the doctor in order to get their hands on the corpse. It disappeared right about the same time you did.”

Nora groaned. “So that’s what the looks were for.” When Piper turned red, Nora hurriedly backed off. “No, not you. The guards.”

Piper smiled weakly. “I’m sorry. I wish I could just put a sign on you that said ‘human’ and be done with it.”

“I’ve heard worse ideas,” Nora tried to smile back. “You don’t need to apologize to me. I know this hasn’t been easy.”

A groan exploded from Piper’s chest as she leaned against Nora. “I feel like I’ve been losing my mind. Every time I close my eyes, I just see that… thing, and I keep thinking it’s you. Every time. I know it’s not, I know you’re here in front of me, but… I don’t think I can let you go like that again.”

Nora held Piper closer and squeezed. “I’m right here, Piper. I’m not going anywhere.”

Piper nodded into her chest. “I know.”

They stood there for a long time, indulging in each other’s company. It should not have been this hard to get ten minutes alone. Even now they were being watched by at least half a dozen armed guards. It was like being on display.

“We should go inside,” Nora suggested, easing Piper away from her chest.

Piper nodded wordlessly and led Nora back inside Publick Occurrences. The moment the door closed, Piper flopped onto the couch and put her hands over her eyes. If exhaustion had a face, Nora was looking at it.

Nora looked around. “Nat still at school?”

Piper nodded. “She’s staying with a friend. Arturo can look out for her.”

The sentence that followed, one that went unspoken if not unnoticed, did little to put Piper at ease. “I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Nora said, her eyes on the corner where Nat slept. Piper loved her little sister. The thought of Nat losing her only remaining family was likely all that kept Piper behind the Wall. Otherwise she would have gone into the Wasteland days ago, guns blazing and keen on settling the score with the Institute.

“She still doesn’t know what to think about what happened,” Piper said through her hands. “Seeing the two of you together. Watching you die was hard on her.”

Nora sat down beside Piper and stared at the floor. “I’m starting to see why people hate Synths.”

Piper elbowed her. “Don’t say that.”

That caught her off guard. “You don’t? Look at what they’ve done.”

“The Institute did this,” Piper said, her tone sharp. “Not Synths.” Seeing Nora back down, her voice softened. “Some of the best people I’ve met have been Synths. They’re just people. It’s the Institute that makes the world hate them, using them to replace people after they kill them.”

Nora tried to settle back against the couch. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

Piper sighed. “I know, and I don’t blame you. We’re both a little on edge right now. Just try and remember who the bad guy is.” 

As Piper let her gaze wander about on the floor, Nora tried to burrow through the waves of black hair and see what was going on inside that head of hers. She got the feeling she would be doing that a lot. The woman was just…

“What?” Piper was smiling now, her eyes twinkling as they peered into Nora’s. “You’re giving me that look.”

“What look?”

“The one you had just after we first met. When you thought I was some attention-starved reporter just looking to make waves.”

Nora rubbed at her neck. “Sorry.”

Piper’s hand came to rest on her leg. “Don’t be. I like it. You only looked at me like that after the Super Mutants, when you saved my life.”

“When I realized you weren’t just looking for attention?” Nora asked sheepishly.

Her smile turned to a grin. “Yeah. It makes me feel like I’m doing some good here. Whenever you look at me like that, I know I’m doing something right.”

Nora had something suave tucked away for just this moment. She had just opened her mouth to floor Piper with the most romantic words every spoken when the look in her eyes turned her brain to a pile of mush.

She stammered something incoherent while Piper watched, plainly happy with her handiwork. After watching Nora mumble herself into a humiliated shade of red, she finally took pity on her and kissed her into silence.

“I love that I can still do that,” Piper whispered.

Nora groaned. “I wish you wouldn’t.”

“You don’t like what comes after?” Piper eased her back onto the couch until she was lying down.

As Piper pushed the edge of Nora’s coat over her shoulder with one finger, Nora found enough breath to whisper “Okay. Maybe I like it. A little.”

 

Nora watched Piper descend the stairs from her loft so gracefully that they should have been made of marble, her loft just the next floor of the palace. In another life, surely she had owned half the world. Now, this was her domain, her little castle of wood and twisted metal. It did not deserve her.

“You’re staring,” Piper gloated.

“You’re not telling me to stop.”

“Would you, if I asked?”

Nora followed the woman’s every move as she glided to the couch and settled in beside her. “You would have to ask really nicely.”

Piper chuckled. “Asking nicely isn’t really my thing.”

“Lucky me,” Nora said, meaning it more than the two little words could say.

Piper gave her a quick peck on the lips before folding easily into Nora’s waiting arms. This was what she had been needing. Just the feel of her, knowing she was here, safe.

“I needed that,” Piper whispered as if reading Nora’s mind.

“We’ll get through this,” Nora promised. “Whatever happens, I’ll be right there with you.”

Piper snuggled deeper into her arms. “Good.”

Despite being unreasonably distracted by Piper, Nora’s mind was churning away at everything that had happened over the last few days. She would need to tell Piper everything that had happened in the Compound, something she was not looking forward to. What she had learned there would lead her back out into the Wasteland.

She looked down at Piper and found herself looking at the top of her press cap. Nora laughed. “Don’t you ever take that thing off?”

“The press never takes a day off!” Piper boasted.

Nora shook her head. No doubt Piper would want to go with her when she left. And, in some horrible corner of her mind, she wanted Piper to be there. She wanted to stay close to her, to know that she was safe. As long as she was close, Nora could protect her.

Of course, the rest of her mind knew that only an idiot dragged someone they cared about into the Commonwealth, and Nora wanted to go through some of the hardest terrain it had to offer.

The words had just begun to line themselves up when Nora noticed that Piper had gone stiff. “What is it?”

Piper sat up slowly. “You’re not going to like it.”

Nora frowned. Then they were even. “That doesn’t mean I won’t listen.”

“Remember how I said the body disappeared? Well, I did some more digging. I know who took it and where they went when they left the city.”

Piper was looking anxiously at Nora for a reaction. Nora could do little more than sigh and hang her head. “I know.”

Nora looked up to find Piper shocked. She smiled tiredly. “As soon as you told me it was gone, I knew what was coming next. I know you. You wouldn’t give up a story like that, not as long as you were still breathing.”

“And?” Piper asked, still plainly anxious.

It was for the best, really. “Who was it and where did they go?”

Piper relaxed visibly. “A few guys in Diamond City Security took some caps in exchange for a blind eye. They were easy enough to find. The guys we’re looking for were wearing old, ratty leathers, the kind you’d see on settlers or some of the more desperate Raiders. But the one in charge was recognized. One of the gate guards said he knew her.”

Nora waited for the punch line. Piper delivered with theatrical drama. “Nora, she was Railroad.”

So startled was Nora that she blurted out the first thing that went through her mind. ”Not Institute?”

“I know, it surprised me too, but it makes sense. Who else would want a dead Synth?”

Nora shook her head. “Besides the Institute? Why go through all that trouble for a dead one?”

Piper was on her feet now, excited to have an engaged audience. “They’re always looking for Institute tech. Alive or dead, anything that can give them an edge, they want.”

There was an uncomfortable pause as Nora settled back against the couch. Without a doubt, Piper already knew what she was going to say. “You want to go after them.”

“I know what you’re going to say, but I can’t keep going like this,” Piper moved to Nora’s side, no longer the queen of the castle. “I can’t stand the way people look at you. You belong here, just as much as anyone else. More, even, after everything you’ve done for them.”

Nora looked at her feet but Piper was not done. “And maybe if I see it… If I see that it’s not you, maybe I can stop thinking about it.”

The weight of her words made Nora flinch. She was an idiot not to realize how difficult this had been for Piper. She tried to imagine what it would feel like, being in her shoes.

“Alright,” Nora finally caved. “If you’re going out there, you’re not doing it alone.”

Piper kissed her. “Thank you.”

“Besides,” Nora stood and started looking for her gear. “It gives me a chance to thank them.”

Piper gave her a look. Nora grabbed her gun and shouldered it before answering. “They were the ones who tipped off the Compound. If they’d had their way…”

“You don’t have to talk about it,” Piper soothed quietly. Again her hand found its way to Nora’s arm.

“Thanks,” Nora managed. “Maybe some other time. It’s just fresh right now. You have no idea how grateful I am for that bobby pin.”

Piper squeezed her arm. “You know me,” she said lazily, her eyes lidded and her face inches from Nora’s as she brushed up against her. “I have a very gifted tongue.”

Nora nearly tripped walking out the door. Thankfully, Piper did not see it.


	6. A Moment Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper and Nora spend the night under the stars

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Piper was lounging against the half-collapsed wall, her head cocked upward to look out a glassless window. “I bet it all looks so small from up there.”

Nora was perfectly happy watching Piper and did not feel the need to admire the night sky. “I like the view from down here just fine.”

Piper looked away long enough to give her a dry look. “Trying to talk me into bed? Out here?”

“Building up my good karma,” Nora said with an innocent smile. “For when we get back.”

With a shake of her head, Piper went back to looking at the sky. “It makes me wonder how long we would last out here. Without the Wall, I mean. Even if it was just a few days, we’d have one hell of a view.”

The streets below held Nora’s attention when it was not stolen away by Piper. Nothing was moving. For once, the night was quiet. Nora smirked. Somehow this was Piper’s doing. She had wanted a nice night to admire the stars, and every gun in the Commonwealth had fallen silent for her benefit.

Their shelter for the evening even had most of a roof. The bombed-out remains of what might have been a small office building added their own sort of dignity to the whole scene. Everyone who had lived here, worked here, or passed by the brick walls in the evening had seen these same stars. There was an odd sense of place in that, like she belonged there.

The beautiful woman on her arm helped, too. Nora leaned over and kissed her, nosing the press cap aside. Piper settled in closer and immediately set to fixing her hat.

“This is not how I imagined a romantic night with you,” Piper admitted after settling her cap just so.

Nora shrugged. “It’s quiet, for once, and the view is nice. Next time I’ll see about bringing some wine.”

“You don’t mind the company?”

Nora sniffed. “Do you imagine me out here, sitting under the stars, smiling as Raiders take pot shots at me?” Piper smiled at that. “Alright, sometimes it does make me smile, but not very often. And I love having you around. I just…”

“Worry?” Piper finished. When Nora nodded, she pressed herself against Nora’s side. “I know. Imagine how I feel, sitting in my room, wondering if you’re out here needing my help.”

That brought a sigh from Nora. “Sometimes I wonder if you wouldn’t be safer out here with me. I know you have Nat and the paper, so I would never ask you to come with me, but that Synth…”

Piper shrank at that. “I know.”

There was a long, terrible silence as Nora realized that she had said something very wrong. Piper stopped staring at the stars. Nora could almost feel her gazing into the distance, reliving that moment on the street over and over.

“It’s my fault,” she whispered.

Nora gave her a rough squeeze. “No. This was the Institute, not you. Don’t ever blame yourself for this.”

“But you –“

“Survived,” Nora finished. “Because of you. That Synth would have shot me, and even if it didn’t, the guards nearly did. You saved my life.”

Piper’s head nuzzled its way around to look Nora in the eye. She was wearing the most amazing smile Nora had ever seen. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

Nora smirked. “You were probably an axe murderer in your last life.”

That earned her a short laugh. “Maybe. It’s been hard, putting up with you.”

Nora kissed her again. “I’m so pleased you suffer through it.”

Piper returned to looking at the cityscape. Nora did the same, her eyes roaming the rooftops and poking through the gaping holes that littered every building in sight. The stars held little appeal for her. Piper was the idealist, the dreamer of the two of them. Nora was content with keeping her safe while she went and saved the world. As far as Nora was concerned, she had the easy job.

Shifting in Nora’s arms, Piper worked one of her hands inside her coat and pulled out a something green. Nora shook her head as the foil crinkled. “Gumdrops?”

Piper cheerfully popped one into her mouth. “Never leave home without them.”

“Okay, you have to tell me the story. How did they save your life?”

“Well, it’s a bit of a long story,” Piper said.

“We’ve got all night. Come on. I’ll trade you. You tell me, you can ask me anything.”

A journalist through and through, Piper lit up. “Anything?”

“Anything at all.”

A smug grin on her face, Piper settled back. “Alright. A story for a story.”

It took a moment for her to begin. Nora took the time to beg one of the candies off of her. Piper put on a charming little show before feeding her waiting companion. Nora tried to keep the regret from her face as she chewed. It tasked like sun-baked rubber trampled for 200 years by bare, unwashed feet.

“This was a long time before we met,” Piper said as she popped another one into her mouth. “I had just got to Diamond City, started up the paper, and started making a name for myself. I got word that this Raider gang was paying off the guards, hitting caravans as they came up the street. I poked around inside the walls and found a few people willing to talk. I sat down with this one guy who told me one of the Raiders wanted to come clean. Said he used to live here. He gave me a time and place for the next hit.”

She shook her head. “Like an idiot, I thought there might be something to it. I go out looking for the raiders. I set myself up in this old apartment building with a view of the street and settled in. I must have dozed off because the next thing I know, I’ve got a bag over my head and I’m being dragged to their camp.”

“They didn’t hurt you?” Nora could not help herself.

“Listen to the story. At the time, I was sure they would. They took my gun, everything in my bags, even my last bobby pin. They tied my hands and left me in this room with one other guy,” Piper shivered. “To this day, I still have nightmares about it, about all the things they said they’d do to me for snooping on them. I remember sitting there, shaking and wondering when I was going to die. What would happen to me before I did.”

“Then, all of a sudden, his stomach growls. I nearly jumped out of my skin,” Piper laughed. “I mean it. I hit the ground so hard dust came up. He looks over at me, starts grumbling about food. Then I feel this,” she waved the wrapper at Nora. “In my pocket. They hadn’t taken it.”

“So I reach into my jacket, pull it out, and look him right in the eye,” Piper made a terrified face. “Care to share a girl’s last meal?”

Nora shook her head. Silver tongue indeed. Piper was chuckling. “He comes over and takes one – one! – and eats it, shy as a lamb. We got to talking. It turned out he was from Diamond City, just like my guy said. After a few hours, he unties my hands, makes a show of dragging me out back to teach me a lesson, and ran back to the city with me.”

“You’re kidding,” Nora could not stop herself from smiling.

“Nope, all true. Last I saw him, he was looking for work in Goodneighbor. I’ll introduce you sometime. You’ll like him.”

Nora shook her head. “He saved your life. I think I’ll more than like him.”

Piper shifted up in her arms. “So, one question.”

“One question,” Nora echoed.

“Anything I want?”

“Anything you want.”

Piper, born inquisitor and ferreter of all truths, stared hard at Nora. Her eyes searched Nora’s, studying every corner until she was looking through them. Thoroughly hypnotized, Nora could do little more than stare back as Piper leafed through every emotion, every memory with the greatest care. Nora was not lost in her eyes, she was found in them, was nothing without them. Piper’s eyes were the only real parts of the world anymore.

“What if it had been me?” Piper whispered. Nora, little more than a puppet under the weight of Piper’s gaze, could manage only the smallest of sounds. “What if the Synth had replaced me instead of you?”

Nora shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know. If I had watched you die like that… I think I would have lost it.”

“I nearly did,” Piper admitted, her eyes leaving Nora’s to look down at the rest of her. “It made me crazy, thinking I’d lost you. I still don’t feel all there. It’s why I’ve been so…”

As Piper searched for words, Nora tried her best to kiss them away. Eventually Piper gave up, sighing and resting her head on Nora’s chest.

“You don’t need to worry about me,” Nora whispered in her ear. “I’ll always be here. I promise.”

Piper wiggled in closer. “I know.” She paused, and Nora felt her smiling. “But I could stand to hear it a few more times.”


	7. Railroaded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper and Nora confront the Railroad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, for those interested, I have a Tumblr now! Same name as my AO3 account. Please feel free to send me any comments, questions, or media involving funny animals. Right now I'm basically just using it as a message broker but at some point I'll get around to making it nice. Probably. Carry on.

The Railroad, as it turned out, was very good at staying hidden. Working with a half-remembered phrase floating around Piper’s brain, the pair worked their way through building after building, looking for clues that a few centuries of warfare had done their best to conceal. It was only after stumbling on a malfunctioning Protectron that they finally found a sense of direction.

That led them on a scavenger hunt around the city. Nora tried to keep things lively by grousing colorfully about the various things that were trying to kill them. Piper did not seem to appreciate it. Eventually they found themselves deep beneath the city streets, their only company each other and a small army of feral Ghouls. When one fell silent, the other always seemed eager to pick up the slack. Nora found it exceedingly irritating. This was not how she wanted to spend quality time with Piper.

“Alright,” Piper whispered, crouching outside the entrance to the Railroad’s hidden lair. “Let me do the talking.”

Nora gave her a look. “What talking?”

“Not everyone shoots on sight,” she chided. “These are good people. They’re fighting the Institute, like us.”

“They took the Synth, Piper. And they nearly got me tortured to death.”

“Someone claiming to be Railroad got you taken,” Piper corrected. “These people wouldn’t do that.”

“On a first-name basis with them, are you?”

Piper glared and ended the argument. “I talk. They shoot, you shoot back.”

Nora growled but did not press the point. “Fine.”

With a reassuring smile, Piper crept through the entryway and into the unknown. Nora followed, rifle at the ready.

They were immediately greeted by dazzling spotlights and three armed sentries, one of whom sported a minigun. Nora wondered how ‘I told you so’ would sound over the spinning barrels. For the second time she wondered about a good thought to go out on. That was not it.

Piper, using her silver tongue, tried to diffuse the situation. “Um, hello.”

Nora was sure they could see her biting her lip and trying not to laugh. The one in the middle spoke back. “Congratulations. You’ve found the Railroad.”

Nora bit harder. So many caustic jokes about their super secret password came to mind. Just one, she begged Piper, just make one joke. Better to die laughing anyway.

The one with the minigun spun the barrel a few times and glared at Nora. “Give us a reason we shouldn’t just cut you down where you stand, Institute.”

Nora spat and swore and said things that would have made even lifetime sailors cover their ears. Piper just put up one calming hand, restraining her worse half with barely a glance. “She’s not with the Institute. The Synth that tried to replace her came through here. We want a look at it.”

The one in the center took a step forward. “Wait, I know you. You’re Piper. Piper Wright.”

The minigun lowered. Nora gave Piper a surprised look. All she got in response was an easy smile. “I am.”

The man chuckled. “Well, we know you’re not Institute. Come inside.”

Piper gave Nora a look of pure innocence. Nora bit her tongue, slung her rifle over her shoulder, and tried to ignore the sudden bounce in Piper’s stride.

“How do you know who I am?” Piper asked, barely able to contain herself.

“Publick Occurrences,” the man said simply. “We all love it here.”

Nora groaned. Piper beamed. She turned, bouncing with uncontrollable excitement. “Hear that? They love it.”

Nora grumbled something inarticulate and looked around for their person of interest. The Railroad had built themselves a cozy little warren in the catacombs beneath the city. Piper chatted up her new best friend while Nora memorized turns and peeped through cracks in the walls, smiling to herself every time a pair of eyes on the other side went skittering away. They were a careful bunch, these ones, even if they lacked creativity.

News of their favorite celebrity had drawn much of the Railroad to meet them when they came to the main complex. As hard as she tried to keep up her angry visage, Nora found herself smiling. Here was Piper, savior of the downtrodden, champion of justice in a world gone mad. It was enough to make a girl swoon. If Nora had been the swooning type. Maybe when they were alone she would give it a try.

The man – Deacon – had been going on about Piper long enough to make Nora a little jealous. “And that piece you did about Diamond City and Ghouls? Humans Only? Brilliant! We’ve got it tacked on the wall over there. Do you think you could do one like it for Synths? Glory –“

Still toting her minigun, the woman escorting Nora groaned. “Please don’t bring me into this.”

Nora chuckled. “He’s a bit much.”

“Your friend here has quite the following,” Glory admitted. “We’ve wanted to recruit her for years. You’re lucky to have her.”

Nora watched as Piper blushed and grinned and played with her cap. “Yeah. I am.”

After a few hours, someone decided it was time to cut Deacon off. A woman came to meet them at the entrance of what must have been their war room. “So, this is the famous Piper Wright. I’m Desdemona. Welcome to the Railroad.”

No special introduction was needed to see that this woman ran the place. Nora fell in beside Piper. “It’s a pleasure. This is my friend, Nora.”

Nora shook her hand. Desdemona squinted for a moment before smiling. “One bullet?”

Now it was Piper’s turn to groan. “So she says.”

“One Deathclaw,” Nora gloated without shame. “One bullet.”

Even Glory raised an eyebrow at that. Desdemona nodded approvingly. “You keep good company, Miss Wright. To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“A Synth sent by the Institute tried to kill Nora and replace her,” Piper said, venom barely concealed in her voice. “They tried to take my sister and me away.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Desdemona said. “But what does this have to do with my people?”

“One of your people was in Diamond City recently. She paid to have the body taken away. We believe it was brought here. All we ask is a few moments to look at it. We just need proof that it is actually a Synth so we can clear Nora’s name.”

Concern etched Desdemona’s face, making her look every bit the leader of a beleaguered resistance movement. She looked as old as Nora. “No one came in with a Synth, alive or dead. Who gave you this information?”

“One of my sources inside Diamond City Security,” Piper said.

Sensing that was as much of an answer as she was going to get, Desdemona actually smiled. “You protect your people. I like that. We could use more like you, you know. This source of yours didn’t have a name to put with the agent, now did they?”

“No, but he did have a description.”

Someone near the back had started slinking out of the room the moment this conversation began. Nora nudged Piper. “That’s who we’re looking for, right?”

Everyone turned. The woman was a non-descript brunette with typical road leathers. Unfortunately for her, she was also sporting a bright flash of red in her hair. Even with one hand trying to hide her face and most of the Railroad between them, she was easy to pick out.

Piper did not even have time to point. The woman knew she was made. Before anyone could speak, their target pulled a laser pistol from her coat, pointed it at Piper, and pulled the trigger.

Nora was faster, slamming Piper unceremoniously into a nearby table before dragging her to the floor in a heap. Flashes of red vaporized stone and set the table on fire as the two women scrambled for better cover. Scooting on her side until she could sit up against a pillar, Nora yelped as burning fabric pressed into her back. The shot that had nearly killed Piper had set her jacket on fire.

As everyone else scrambled over tables and fought desperately to stay alive, Nora fought just as desperately to get out of her singed clothing. It was not until she hurled the smoldering leather across the room that she realized how ridiculous she must have looked.

Piper, mercifully, did not seize her moment, as she was too busy trying to keep her newfound fan club from being murdered. Desdemona had also found shelter behind a stone column and was directing her people to fan out and encircle their former sister.

It was the cycling of a minigun that brought the fight to a close. Glory, probably on purpose, stood right next to Nora and cut loose a short, professional burst. As the dust settled, she let the minigun fall to her side and kicked Nora’s jacket, still smoking, into her lap.

“You dropped this.”

If looks could kill. Desdemona cut in before Nora could pick a fight. “Glory! Perimeter. Now.”

Piper walked over to Nora and helped her to her feet. “Anyone hit?”

“No,” Desdemona answered. “Your friend’s jacket seems to be the only casualty.”

“And her pride,” Piper chirped. So she had noticed. Wonderful.

A few enterprising souls were already rooting through the woman’s pockets. One of them stood up and waved the three women over. “Boss, we’ve got a problem.”

“What?”

The man produced a small radio. “This wasn’t tuned to any of our frequencies. I think it was military.”

Another man had set the radio on a table and turned it on. Desdemona walked over to it and read the display. “I don’t recognize it either. Where’s Deacon when I need him?”

Before anyone could answer, the radio chirped a single word. “Floodgate.”

Everyone stared at it, waiting for more. Nothing followed. After a few moments, Desdemona spoke up. “Anyone recognize that codeword?” More silence. “Alright, then for the next forty eight hours, we assume the worst. No one goes in or out. Take these two out the back then seal it up. And someone find me Deacon.”

Desdemona looked at Piper. “I had you in my home for five minutes and you managed to expose one of my people as a mole and almost get yourself killed. As much trouble as you are, I’m betting you’re worth it. Let me know if you ever want to really take the fight to the Institute.”

The ground shifted. All noise stopped as everyone watched little curtains of dust rain down from the ceiling. Somewhere in the distance, a rhythmic, metallic pounding began to settle over the room. Nora checked her rifle. She knew that sound.

“Power Armor,” Nora moved to protect Piper. “Where’s this back door?”

Desdemona was busy cracking the whip over her subordinates. Judging by the sound of the minigun fire, Glory was occupied with the new visitors. Piper was busy looking toward the sound of the fighting.

“Fine,” Nora groaned and grabbed for Piper. “We’ll find out own way out. Let’s go.”

Piper wrenched her arm free. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Someone down the hall screamed “Brotherhood!”

Nora tried to grab her arm again. “You heard him, it’s the Brotherhood. That means soldiers with big guns and quick trigger fingers. This isn’t some street brawl with Raiders, this is a real fight.”

“Yes, and these people are going to lose it,” Piper’s hand grabbed her arm. Her grip was firm. Manic. “Please. I’m a journalist. You kill Deathclaws.”

Nora stared, mouth open, unable to speak as Piper rooted around in her chest and played her heartstrings like a violin. “One of these days,” she muttered. “You’re going to tell me how you do that.”

Relief washed over Piper’s face. “Thank you.”

More dust fell from the ceiling. Laser fire hissed and popped in the hallways and burned away bricks that had sat dutifully in place for centuries. Nora sighed. She was not a hero. This was not what she did.

But Piper was, and if Piper was about to take on the Commonwealth, she would not do it alone. Nora checked her rifle one last time. “Alright. Stay here.”

Nora pelted for the entrance, hoping her head would not be scorched off the moment she entered the fight. As she scrambled into cover, Piper slid in beside her. “When have I ever listened to you?”


	8. Slightly Damaged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora, at Piper's urging, agrees to defend the Railroad against the Brotherhood assault

Nora watched as one Railroad agent stuck another with a Stimpack and wondered if they came in smaller sizes. Her ears desperately needed one.

The catacombs under Boston had not been designed for modern combat. Nora knew she could not blame the original builders for that lack of foresight but she desperately wanted to. The acoustics were terrible. Every shot echoed a hundred times, each one amplifying the others until the pop of one rifle became the collective roar of a thousand dragons. To say it was deafening would undersell it. Calling it agonizing came little closer.

Trapped on one side of a small cistern, Nora had hardly dared to poke her head out for the better part of five minutes. The Railroad fighters with her were learning that sort of wisdom the hard way, particularly the one being jabbed in his bleeding gut.

The raid was going well for the Brotherhood. A strong push at the entrance had sent most agents either scrambling to defend the main gate or frantically pushing each other out the back door where another force waited patiently to mop them up. Nora suspected their dead friend had tipped them off to the location of the escape tunnel. This, after ruining Nora’s jacket, had surely carved her out a special place in hell.

A fresh hail of bullets chipped away at Nora’s cover. She scooted lower, folding her legs in and trying to curl around her rifle. Some good she was doing.

Glory had gone to secure the escape tunnel and Desdemona had gone with her. Most of the Railroad was there, pushing hard to escape the trap set for them while Nora and a few other die-hards remained behind to fight the main force. It was not how Nora had planned on going out. At least it was in a blaze of gunfire.

Piper wriggled up beside Nora, flat on her belly to avoid stray fire. “You have a plan?”

“Yeah,” Nora yelled over the gunfire. “Sit here and wait for death!”

“Not a good time for jokes!”

Nora shook her head. “Wasn’t a joke! You wanted to stay, so we stayed!”

Piper snarled in frustration. “I’m serious! I wanted to help these people! We can’t help them if we’re dead!”

Despite her bleak outlook, Nora had no more desire to die here than Piper did. She just happened to be more realistic. Hearing scuffling in the cistern, Nora forced herself into a crouch and tried to ignore how awkwardly close she was to stepping on Piper’s head. Sure enough, up the ditch came two Brotherhood soldiers, firing from the hip and filling the air with pain. Nora sent a little pain of her own speeding their way.

Watching them tumble gave her no pleasure. “We’re sitting ducks here. If they push us with Power Armor, I don’t think I can stop them.”

Nora pulled her rifle back behind the wall but the Brotherhood had her position. A black blur hummed through the air just in front of Nora. She had opened her mouth to warn Piper when she heard a dull _thwap_. Piper, her arm contorted over her head, palmed the grenade that had been meant to kill them before catapulting it back into the open. Piper, it seemed, was both the savior of Diamond City and a true credit to its old-world heritage. Nora could only shake her head.

The explosion was deafening. Only the pained screams of the Brotherhood and the whistling of grenade fragments could be heard over the din. Nora, seeing her chance to stretch her legs, popped to her feet, grabbed Piper by the collar of her trench coat, and dragged her upward like a large puppy.

The Railroad agents scrambled over each other to follow them. Nora had not seen how much damage the grenade had done but it would not be enough. They needed to buy more time.

Piper managed to get her feet under her and was now trying to hurry the retreating rabble along. Nora could hear the sound of scrambling and tentative gunfire behind them. It would not be long now. She turned the next corner and started swearing. They were back where they back in the operation center. Back where they had started.

Nora shoved the first Railroader who crossed her path. “Move! Out the back!”

Piper quickly took up the call if not the shoving, leaving Nora free to run frantically back and forth across the room. There had to be something here. Maybe under that stack of papers was a Fat Man or behind that mattress was a suit of Power Armor.

Power Armor she found, though not how she wanted to. Dust fell from the ceiling as every concussive _thump_ brought certain, mechanized death closer. The Brotherhood was bringing in their best. Nora turned even more frantic. She would take anything. .50 cal, rocket launcher, smoke grenade, anything.

The sound was on top of them. Nora hurled a mattress over a table and froze. _There is no way this will work_.

She dove to the ground, scrambling madly to load the weapon. Piper was yelling at her to run. The footsteps were coming closer. Brotherhood voices could be heard in the corridor. They were right outside.

Piper screamed. Laser fire lit up the room. Nora popped to her feet, spun around, struck her best Deathclaw-slaying pose, and squeezed the trigger.

Brilliant red light filled the room as the flare gun made an innocent little _poof_. The flare snapped to life in mid-flight, blinding Nora and sending Brotherhood’s laser minigun slewing wide over Piper’s head. It struck the Power Armor in the visor and sent the soldier inside panicking. The minigun fell to the floor as he clawed at his face. The flare soon fell with it, bounced a few times, and sizzled innocently in the doorway, but the damage was done.

The Power Armor’s helmet was scarred black with burns. Where the eyepieces had been before, now only black glass remained. Nora stopped staring long enough to start shoving another flare into the chamber.

Piper poked her head up over a fallen table to watch the show. Nora saw her. “Piper! Get out!”

“Stop telling me to run!” Piper snapped. Her pistol barked as she emptied her magazine on the Power Armor’s leg joint. The constant pinging of bullets on the metal turned to a violent _snap_ as the joint finally gave out. The Power Armor went down, the soldier going to one knee in shock as he fumbled for his weapon, still too afraid to remove his helmet.

It was not until the man inside called Piper a rather unkind name that Nora decided to finish the job. Retrieving her rifle, she fired over his head a few times, discouraging his supporting troops and keeping this a civilized duel. Retrieving the flare gun from her belt, she popped another round off, this one bouncing down the hallway and sending his reinforcements scrambling even further.

Wasting no time, Nora sprinted past the Power Armor, dodging wide as the man swept his arm out to catch her. By ill luck, his knee scraped his minigun. Forgetting all about Nora, the man scrambled to get it back into his hands and spray the room with red.

Nora was faster. Dropping her rifle, she hurled herself at the soldier, grabbing hold of his shoulder and swinging around onto his back. Her other hand found the Fusion Core, twisted, and yanked.

The Armor slammed into the floor, a thousand pounds of dead metal. Nora wrenched the minigun free and slewed it down the hallway. No one had poked their head out yet but she wanted to keep it that way. She could hear the man inside swearing quietly in panic.

“If I were you,” Nora said, hopping down beside the dead helmet. “I’d sit right there. See, I’ve still got another flare here, and you called my friend a very mean name. Unless you want me to cook you alive, you’ll give up the fight.”

Nora reached down and clicked the latches on the helmet, popping it off to reveal a little blonde boy probably in his early twenties. He had a scar on his left eye but otherwise looked like he had never seen a day of fighting in his life.

Nora smiled sweetly. “See?” she waved the flare gun in front of his face. “If you were standing over me like this, do you think you’d let me live?” When he did not answer, Nora frowned. “I thought not.”

Something moved in the hall. Nora looked up to find another soldier sighting a rifle on her. Piper discouraged them with a few well-placed shots. Annoyed, Nora pressed the flare gun to the boy’s forehead. “I see you again, and you’ll be wishing I’d burned you.”

She said it quietly enough for Piper not to hear. The woman was too good, too pure to sully with the petty death threats that made the world go round. Leaving the boy a whimpering mess, Nora loped toward the back door, minigun under one arm, rifle on her back, and her trusty flare gun tucked into her belt. Piper did not need to be hurried.

“Thank you,” she said as bounded down the hall.

Nora gave her a look. “What for?”

“For not killing him.”

Nora sighed. “Awfully hard to win a war without fighting it.”

“This isn’t a war for him anymore,” Piper said, all surety and confidence. “Someone told him to come here and kill bad guys. He did. It’s not like he cares who he’s killing. He just knows they’re evil and that he’s fighting for good.”

Nora looked back down the hall. She could hear someone yelling about the Power Armor, telling the boy to get out while he shouted about it not working right. Taking her advice to heart, he also seemed to be making a fuss about being wounded. Good kid.

Piper stopped her at the next tunnel. “Look, I hate the Brotherhood. I hate them because they’re an authoritarian cult that kills people for shiny bits of metal and because they can’t accept any view but theirs. But some of them are good people. Some of them really believe this is the only way to save the world. That kid back there was just that – a kid.”

Footsteps in the tunnel behind them prompted them to start running again. “We can fix this,” Piper said. “We can do better than this.”

Nora ran behind her, glancing over her shoulder every few steps. In all the far-flung corners of the Wasteland, there was no mystery greater than the mind of Piper Wright. She almost preferred those early days, back when she had thought the woman was just an Institue-fearing, attention-seeking journalist with a flair for the dramatic. An attitude like that fit in with the rest of the world.

Now she could only laugh. “You’re a strange woman, Piper Wright.”


	9. Three Little Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After returning to Diamond City, Nora admits to her feelings for Piper

Nora sat on the roof of Publick Occurrences. She was pretending to watch the sunset but the scene below had her captivated. Piper was making the rounds with the daily paper and it was a beautiful thing to see. After months of gathering dust, the printing press now hummed with life. Nat had returned to her spot outside the building, standing on top of a small box and waving papers at everyone who walked by. Things were normal again.

It would not last. Nora knew it. Piper knew it, too. That was why she was down there, chatting up the regulars at the noodle bar, pretending she was still just Piper the reporter. This was who she was, who she was supposed to be, not some ragtag guerilla fighter, burrowing into forgotten ruins and preparing for the revolution. No, Piper was more than that. She took on the Institute with nothing but a pen, and she was damn good with it.

Nora rubbed at her shoulder where a bit of flying masonry had struck her during the fight. She still could not believe they had come through it alive. The Brotherhood had meant business. They wanted the Railroad gone, but no one seemed to know why. Desdemona seemed to think the mole had been working for the Brotherhood all along and, between the radio and the timely ambush, Nora had readily agreed.

Piper had not. For those who accused Piper of seeing the Institute in every shadow, this was just another one of her wild goose chases. But it made sense. The Brotherhood had never cared about Synths, just the chips in their head. If the Brotherhood had wanted a dead Synth so badly, it would have been easier to just remove the chip and send that rather than cart the whole body around. That was all Synths were to the Brotherhood: a few bits of tech with a lot of moving parts.

In that regard, they fit very well with the Institute. The Institute gave Synths a life by stealing someone else’s, then sent them out into the world and waited patiently for them to be murdered. Meanwhile, the Brotherhood tried its best to do the murdering just for the pleasure of cutting them open and stripping them for parts. At least the Railroad tried to give them a life, even if it was mostly composed of picking up a gun and dying in a ditch.

Nora watched Piper make stage-worthy gestures at a paper held by one of her lucky patrons. They seemed happy for once, but maybe that was not so surprising. She had caught a Synth inside the walls. The Institute had attacked. No one was dead. Even after, with bodies vanishing and the Diamond City jail broken into, no one inside the walls had been killed. Everyone loved a good, clean win. They had even forgotten about little old Nora.

She could have watched Piper for hours. She probably did. When she finally left the roof, the sun was down and the dinner rush had swarmed in, giving Piper a fresh group of onlookers to wow. When Piper did finally make her way home, she found Nora lying in her bed, reading one of her comics.

Piper – sweet, beautiful Piper – flopped down beside her and rested her head on her shoulder. “I didn’t know you were a Grognak fan.”

Nora smiled. “I find myself identifying with the barbarian, always saving the damsel in distress from creatures beyond imagining.”

Long strands of Piper’s hair tickled Nora’s exposed neck as she wriggled closer. “I don’t remember ever being kidnapped by an evil sorcerer who can control minds.”

“Then we have plenty to look forward to in the future,” Nora chirped.

Piper rolled over, nudging Nora’s arm aside. “Admit it. You like saving me.”

“I do,” Nora took her eyes off the comic in favor of the much more attractive princess lying in her arms. “Getting you all to myself makes it worth getting shot at every day.”

That earned her a kiss. “You know just what to say, don’t you?”

Piper rolled away, the loss of her warmth dragging Nora’s heart away with her. It lurched even further when the woman began shedding her coat. Nora tried to sound calm. “So, you never let me see what was in the paper.”

What kind of line was that? Piper shrugged out of her coat and Nora nearly missed her answer. “It was about you,” she answered coyly.

“Come on, what was it?”

“You made an appearance, don’t worry,” Piper tossed her jacket onto the floor without looking over her shoulder. She did it so casually Nora found herself wondering why she was still talking and not pulling her down beside her. “It was about how the Institute tried to take you. I got to talk about how you stayed with me, no matter what they threw at us. Even when they blamed the Railroad for your kidnapping and tried to stamp you out with the Brotherhood.”

Nora was glad the other woman could not see the deep shade of red she was turning. “I only came through all that because of you.”

Piper removed her press cap and ran a hand through her hair, determined to keep Nora’s breath short and her heart hammering. “You had just saved my sister from being taken by a Synth. I think we’re even.”

Lowering herself back down to Nora, Piper traced one delicate finger over the lucky woman’s ear. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Nora managed to ignore Piper’s touch long enough to say something intelligent. “You’d be a mess. Saving the world all on your own.”

Piper sighed, her breath dancing over Nora’s skin. “That’s why I need you with me. You keep me safe.”

Piper never had to try very hard. All it ever took was one look, one little word breathed in just the right way. A million clever things fought for control of Nora’s lips but it was a lost cause. Piper always won. It was all she could do to put voice to that one, overpowering thought that never left her, no matter what looks Piper gave her or what her hands were doing.

“I love you,” Nora whispered just as Piper began depriving her of words entirely.

Piper stopped what she was doing long enough to kiss Nora breathless. “I love you too,” Piper whispered back. After that, words only got in the way.

 

Piper rolled over in her sleep, happily sighing as she draped her arm over the woman she loved. Her arm met only air. Piper groaned aloud at the empty bed. It was a cold night, and she had been spoiled by having Nora to keep her warm.

It was the light downstairs that kept her from falling back to sleep. She listened for the sounds of Nora rooting around for a midnight snack or the sound of her playing with Nat. There was nothing. Nat was still away with Nina.

This was not the first time Nora had strayed from their bed at night. She had spent a long time out in the wastes and she still had nightmares about Deathclaws and Raider attacks. She would check the locks, walk the perimeter, and be back in bed in a few minutes.

Minute after minute dragged by with no sign of Nora. Piper began to worry. The growing feeling of uneasiness in her stomach was probably nothing. She told herself that over and over as she found her boots and pulled her coat around her shoulders before walking downstairs.

Nora was sitting on the couch, head in her hands. “Nora?” Piper’s voice was still heavy with sleep. “What are you doing down here?”

She did not move. As Piper crossed the room to sit beside her, Nora held up her hand to stop her. Piper froze. “What is it?” she asked, suddenly alert.

Slowly she began to hear Nora’s shaking breaths, notice the way she was sitting. She had been crying. Piper’s gun sat beside her.

“We need to talk,” Nora said, her voice trembling.

“Why do you have my gun?” Piper asked slowly.

“I need you to hear me out,” Nora continued slowly. She sounded terrified now. “And once I’m done, if you want to use it, I won’t stop you. But you need to promise to let me finish. Can you do that?”

Piper held out a hand to her. “Alright. Whatever’s going on, we can talk about it. Just tell me what’s wrong.”

Nora licked her lips and looked down at the gun. “I’m sorry, Piper. I’m so sorry.”

Piper took one careful step. “Nora, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”

Again Nora looked away. Her eyes darted all over the house.

“Nora?”

Nora looked up, her eyes finally meeting Piper’s.

“I’m not Nora.”


	10. Strangers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper confronts Nora's replacement

The woman who had called herself Nora for so long struggled not to break down. She had come too far to stop now. “I know. I’m not Nora.” She took one ragged, horrible breath. “I’m a Synth.”

Piper stopped breathing, and the Synth’s heart stopped beating with it. She wanted to take it all back. She wanted to go back upstairs with the woman and spend the rest of her life with her. She wanted to steal the real Nora’s life, have everything she had worked so hard for.

But she could not lie to Piper.

“That’s not possible,” Piper was shaking her head. “You – you knew. About us. Everything.”

The pretender closed her eyes. “We caught Nora just outside the city. Everything I know, we got from her.”

She looked back at Piper to see her eyes widening. Everything this Synth had done to her and everything she had done with this stranger suddenly came crashing home. “You…”

Piper launched herself at the couch, grabbing for the gun. The Synth stumbled away just as Piper slammed into the cushions. “Wait!”

“You killed her!” Piper screamed, scrambling up and throwing herself at the Synth in a mad fury.

“No! Just listen to me!” she tried to run but the room was too small. Piper got hold of her, clawing frantically at her arms and grappling madly for the gun. She tried to protect herself but tripped over a loose plank in the floor and went sprawling. Piper crawled over her, pulling her gun from the Synth’s grip and pointing it at her head.

“She’s still alive!”

Piper crouched over the Synth, digging her knees in the prone woman’s ribs, her finger shaking on the trigger. The Synth lay on the floor, hands raised in pleading surrender. “She’s still alive,” she said again. “Piper, I’m so sorry.”

“Shut up,” Piper hissed, tears forming in her eyes. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t kill you right here.”

“I can get her back.”

“Why? Why should I trust you? Why would you even want to help me?”

The Synth wanted nothing more than for Piper to pull the trigger. “Because I love you.”

Piper’s eyes turned wild. “Never say that again. Never. Not in her voice.”

The gun lowered but stayed pointed at the Synth’s chest. Piper’s arms relaxed enough to make the Synth lower hers. She did not get off the floor even as Piper stood. She took a few shaky steps back toward the stairs, toward where the false Nora so desperately wanted to be. Piper scrubbed one sleeve across her face. “Why tonight?”

The liar was honest. “The Institute. They ordered me to kill you tonight.”

“And you didn’t want to go through with it? You’re willing to kill the people I love but as long as I’m warming your bed at night, why not let me live, is that it?”

“No,” she pleaded. She realized how it all sounded but she could not help herself. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

“You shot Nora,” Piper brought the gun up again. “In front of me.”

“I know, I’m –“ she bit off the end. Without ‘I’m sorry,’ and ‘I love you,’ she found herself struggling for words. “I never meant for this to happen.”

Piper looked around the room helplessly. The Synth wanted nothing more than to comfort her. “Why did you do this? Why replace Nora? What did she ever do to you?”

She looked away. “It wasn’t her they wanted.”

When she did not finish the thought, Piper finished it for her. “You were here for me.”

The Synth nodded, still not daring to look her in the eye. This was not how it was supposed to be.

“Get out,” Piper had lowered the gun. The liar stayed where she was, hardly daring to speak. “I don’t care where you go but you’re not staying here.”

“You’re letting me go?”

“Get out,” Piper snarled. “If I see you again, I swear I’ll kill you.”

The Synth slowly picked herself up off the floor. She gathered her things carefully, leaving her rifle by the door.

“You should have left us alone,” Piper said, her voice breaking.

Without a word, the Synth walked out into the street, letting the door close softly behind her. She stood on the porch, looking down at the mud and wondering where she was supposed to go. There were some nice alleys around. It was more than she deserved, anyway.

The soft, heartbreaking sounds of Piper’s sobs drifted through the door. The Synth closed her eyes, wishing the real Nora had been faster on the trigger. None of this should have happened. Not to Piper. She deserved better than this.

She spent the night in an alley in the darkest corner she could find. Even in daylight, it would have been hard to tell her from all the trash that clogged the side street. She tried to sleep, tried to tell herself that she could fix all this and that she would need her strength the next day. It did not help.

Morning came quietly over Diamond City. Wherever the real Nora was, she should have been here. Piper should have been just waking, should have been looking over at the woman she loved and interrupting her sleep as she so often did.

Footsteps in the mud brought the Synth’s gaze up. “Piper?”

The woman stood over her, face haggard and impassive. She was not holding her gun. “Get up.”

The Synth stood. Piper looked back out of the alley. “You have no idea where you are, do you?” When she did not get an answer, Piper turned back on her. “Good. This was our place, not yours. This is what’s going to happen. You’re going to come with me. We’re going back to my place. You’re going to sit down and tell me everything; why you’re here, what you did to Nora, everything.”

Piper stepped right up to the Synth’s face. “Then, you’re going to help me get her back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! As always, you’ve been a terrific, responsive, and suspiciously supportive audience. It’s been a great pleasure writing for you. To answer the obvious question, Part 3 (or 4 by AO3 numbers) is coming soon. I’m attempting to finish the last few chapters this weekend and will be editing, embellishing, and sending it off to my beta later this week if all goes as planned. If not, there are some other very talented people writing better works than this that you can peruse. Seriously, off the top of my head, Piperwright and jarofbees both have very solid content. If you haven’t had the chance to read their works yet, do yourself a favor and check them out. I can wait until you’re done. Assuming you come back.
> 
> Anyway, for those of you determined to slum it out with me, I’ll do my best to keep you entertained. As always, I welcome any feedback, both here and on my Tumblr. I hope you have enjoyed the ride and I look forward to seeing you around as our heroic journalist takes on the worst the Commonwealth has to offer.


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